The Surgeon, Ferdinand Sauerbruch 1932

Max Liebermann made this painting of The Surgeon, Ferdinand Sauerbruch, with oil on canvas. The gray-toned background allows the white of the surgeon’s coat to really pop. I can imagine Liebermann working quickly, trying to capture the essence of the man, using the brushstrokes to build up form and volume. Look at the way he's rendered the hands, so economically, with just a few strokes, and yet they convey so much. I wonder, was the surgeon a friend? What was it like for Liebermann to be in his presence? You get a sense of the individual, of course, but you also get a sense of how it feels to be alive, observing, and painting. I think that's where the real magic lies - the emotional and intellectual exchange between artist, subject, and viewer, all mediated through the materiality of paint. These traces of human feeling and expression endure in the work, allowing us to think and feel along with Liebermann, long after the painting was made.